Product Description

Abigail's hopes and dreams for the future are wrapped up in her handsome, dark-eyed betrothed, Nabal. But when the long-awaited wedding day arrives, her drunken groom behaves shamefully. Nevertheless, Abigail tries to honor and respect her husband despite his abuse of her. Meanwhile, Abigail's family has joined David's wandering tribe as he and his people keep traveling to avoid the dangerous Saul. When Nabal suddenly dies, Abigail is free to move on with her life, and thanks to her brother, her new life includes a new husband--David. The dangers of tribal life on the run are serious, but there are other dangers in young Abigail's mind. How can David lead his people effectively when he goes against God? And how can Abigail share David's love with the other wives he insists on marrying?

Publisher's Description

Abigail's hopes and dreams for the future are wrapped up in her handsome, dark-eyed betrothed, Nabal. But when the long-awaited wedding day arrives, her drunken groom behaves shamefully. Nevertheless, Abigail tries to honor and respect her husband despite his abuse of her. Meanwhile, Abigail's family has joined David's wandering tribe as he and his people keep traveling to avoid the dangerous Saul. When Nabal suddenly dies, Abigail is free to move on with her life, and thanks to her brother, her new life includes a new husband--David. The dangers of tribal life on the run are serious, but there are other dangers in young Abigail's mind. How can David lead his people effectively when he goes against God? And how can Abigail share David's love with the other wives he insists on marrying? Jill Eileen Smith, bestselling author of Michal, draws on Scripture, historical research, and her imagination as she fills in the blanks to unveil the story of Abigail and David in rich detail and drama. The result is a riveting page-turner that will keep readers looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.

Author Bio

Jill Eileen Smith has more than twenty years of writing experience, and her writing has garnered acclaim in several contests. Her research into the lives of David's wives has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. Jill is the author of the bestselling Michal and lives with her family in southeast Michigan.

We see a new side to pre-King David, his desire to love one wife, and his wish that he could, warring with his desires for power, flesh, control, and stability.

Abigail is the wife of his heart, but wife number three.

David is her second husband, and the husband of her shredding heart as he marries more and more wives, and moves from Adonai's will and law.

We often visit Abigail's valiant efforts to be civil, tolerant, mentoring, and to ignore the other women that David marries-especially since he married them for the worst reasons, and they don't seem mature enough to have a mutual relationship.

Abigail is stuck spending more time with David's other wives, who she normally would spend little time with, than with David.

Abigail's mind understands_but her heart, cannot help screaming in pain at the unnatural relationships forced on her.

She only wants David; He only wants her-but then here are the other wives, glad to wound and cause division.

Even David wishes it was different!

Abigail's tortuous journey loving and encouraging a deaf when he wants to be David, will convince you that monogamy is the only sane way to live.

A little more writing in this good book, be an Abigail_and more editing by the Editor, and this could be a great Historical novel.

Abigail's marriage to Nabal was doomed to failure from the beginning. A handsome man, Nabal arrested her attention from the first and gave her hope for their future together. But when he begins their marriage by behaving shamefully, she still strives to honor her husband despite his drunken revelries almost every night and his blatant disrespect of Adonai.

David and his band of men protect Nabal's herds from being harmed in the wilderness, and when Nabal hears of it, he refuses to recognize David's service to him and recompense the men for their trouble. In a fit of anger, David orders Nabal and all the men of his house to be executed. Abigail intervenes by bringing food to David and his men, successfully keeping them from killing the men of her household. When Nabal dies suddenly, she is free to become David's wife. But some serious problems remain in her way: how can God bless David if he continually goes against His commands? And how can she be happy to share her husband with all the other women David keeps on marrying? Was she really better off the only wife to a man that abused her, rather than one of the wives of one of a future king?

This was an interesting twist to the well-known story of Abigail in the Old Testament. While we do not know if the real Abigail struggled immensely with having to share the king with his other wives, it stands to reason that women have not changed much over the centuries. This being the case, it was probably very hard to share David. Somehow, it was important to have her story included in the Biblical narrative, and Smith does a wonderful job of bringing her story to life, giving Abigail a voice that clearly echoes a desire to please the Lord in all things.

Abigail's marriage to Nabal was doomed to failure from the beginning. A handsome man, Nabal arrested her attention from the first and gave her hope for their future together. But when he begins their marriage by behaving shamefully, she still strives to honor her husband despite his drunken revelries almost every night and his blatant disrespect of Adonai.

David and his band of men protect Nabal's herds from being harmed in the wilderness, and when Nabal hears of it, he refuses to recognize David's service to him and recompense the men for their trouble. In a fit of anger, David orders Nabal and all the men of his house to be executed. Abigail intervenes by bringing food to David and his men, successfully keeping them from killing the men of her household. When Nabal dies suddenly, she is free to become David's wife. But some serious problems remain in her way: how can God bless David if he continually goes against His commands? And how can she be happy to share her husband with all the other women David keeps on marrying? Was she really better off the only wife to a man that abused her, rather than one of the wives of one of a future king?

This was an interesting twist to the well-known story of Abigail in the Old Testament. While we do not know if the real Abigail struggled immensely with having to share the king with his other wives, it stands to reason that women have not changed much over the centuries. This being the case, it was probably very hard to share David. Somehow, it was important to have her story included in the Biblical narrative, and Smith does a wonderful job of bringing her story to light, giving Abigail a voice that clearly echoes a desire to please the Lord in all things.

The second book in the Wives of King David series was as good as the first. It stayed true as did the first book. I liked that interaction between David and Abigail. A lot of the story takes place while David is in the desert on the run from Saul. There were times I felt sorry for Abigail, she seemed so out of place, but there was lots of dialogue that keep the story moving along.

You don't have to read these books in order, but it would be helpful because there are a few things in Abigail that reference back to Michal, but nothing that would disrupt the storyline.

Although I wasn't as fascinated with this story as I was with Michal, it was still a wonderful book. I do recommend it.

I loved this story. Jill gives a really good image of what it must have been like for Abigail being married to a king and how hard it must have been but also how much she loved him. She really goes in depth to make you see you know the character and feel what she feels. I love the way she includes scripture and I can't wait to read her next one. Thank you for using your gift that God gave you to make us see these Biblical characters clearer.